After letting it lapse for ten years, should I renew my NARAS membership? If so, should I join the Philadelphia Chapter or the Washington DC Branch?

I dropped out of the Philadelphia Chapter in 2001 because I found the politics of the organization at the time to be (stating it mildly) nauseating. There was clearly an "in crowd" and an "out crowd" and I found myself very much part of that "out crowd" and decided that it was NOT worth the hundred buxx or so per year that I was spending just to have "NARAS - The Recording Academy" on my business materials.

When people talk about the music biz being a "bottom-up" type of business, I found NARAS Philadelphia (late 1990s) to be a very elitist group of people. Has it changed over the past ten years? Because if that snobbism has been replaced by genuine networking and professional socialization opportunities, I'd be back in a flash, but if it has not I don't want to waste the hundred buxx or whatever the yearly membership dues are now.

weedywet

May 16th, 2011, 01:19 AM

I have mixed feelings about my own NARAS membership in truth

but I have friends active in the Philly branch (Rob Hyman in particular)
(I'm in NY obviously)